


Darker Than Blood

by revenblue



Category: Neopets
Genre: Gen, Mild Wraith Resurgence Spoilers, POV Third Person Omniscient
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 12:31:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13076943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revenblue/pseuds/revenblue
Summary: There's a wraith in the forest.





	Darker Than Blood

Deep in the Haunted Woods, where distant sounds of battle could be heard, a wraith flitted silently through the underbrush. Faint wisps of purple mist trailed behind as the wraith forged ever deeper. This wraith had a _goal_ and would not stop until that goal was complete.

There were others in this forest too. A cloaked figure ran alongside the wraith for a short distance, before their paths split again.

It wasn't long before the large bulk of the Rattling Cauldron came into view, dark grey brick barely standing out against the dark trees of the forest. Only the flickering torches made it distinguishable at all, shadows dancing on the walls. Perfect concealment for a wraith on a mission.

Inside the arena, a spotted lupe faced a different wraith in battle, Sword of Ari hanging casually from his paws. The mask over his muzzle covered what was sure to be a confident smirk, and his tail swished easily behind him from where it poked out of a hole in his worn black jeans.

The wraith he was facing hung in the air at around his head height, round and bulbous, like a balloon that had been tied down. Or like a meerca if the meerca had been twisted and warped into a wraith. It opened its mouth and shrieked, the sound echoing around the arena.

Despite the noise, the lupe didn't flinch. If anything, his hidden smile grew, reaching his eyes, and he rolled his muscled shoulders.

This wasn't his first fight, after all. Far from it.

And he'd trained for this, for the day he could take up his sword in a fight to save Neopia.

A bell rang, signalling the start of the battle. He threw a spell with one paw. Swung his Sword with the other. Within moments the wraith lay on the ground, defeated in a single slash. It never stood a chance.

"What the _hell_ , Vol?"

The lupe whirled around at the voice, bringing his sword up in a defensive stance. As he watched, the other wraith walked out from where she'd been hiding in the shadows, the shadowy shapes that made up her form flickering in righteous rage.

"Are you beating up wraiths?" she demanded, now clearly visible as a gelert in the bright lights of the arena. Her drab clothing hung loose on her frame, twisting with every movement. "Is that what you're doing right now?"

Behind the lupe, whose name was in fact Volkair, the defeated wraith crawled away unnoticed, ectoplasm sloughing off to reveal a long yellow tail.

Recognising her, Volkair lowered his sword and made a sweeping gesture with his other paw, like a wing. A gesture they both knew, from times gone by.

They'd been Vol and Kol, the dream team, playing pranks on everyone they came in contact with. Even Snowy, up in his icy cave. Until, one day, they weren't any more.

One day, they'd parted ways. Kolymar, as a wraith, to Terror Mountain; Volkair back to training down in Moltara.

Kolymar snarled at the memory, thin tail lashing behind her as her paws curled into fists. "Faeries," she spat, claws digging into her palms. "You're doing this because those _faeries_ told you to."

A shrug.

This, unfortunately, was more a dismissal than a proper response. And the wraith knew it, was painfully familiar with the feeling.

" _Why_ , Vol?"

Volkair raised an eyebrow, repeating the faerie wing gesture.

And the wraith had thought the shrug was bad. _This_ was worse, _this_ was her old partner refusing to take responsibility for his own mistakes. It _was_ a mistake, right? It had to be.

She shoved her fists into her pockets so they wouldn't shake. "No, I'm _not_ going to talk to the damn faeries, I already know they hate what I am, I just need to know why _you_ thought you could-" She choked back a sob, which Volkair politely chose not to notice. "I thought you were my _friend_ , Vol."

Volkair narrowed his eyes, tucking his sword under his arm and signing quickly. " _So did I, until you left._ "

"Oh, so you _do_ know sign after all," the wraith said, lip curling up in a snarl. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten how."

A moment later, she had a sword pointed at her throat. Volkair glared at her, for once looking completely serious, the mask hissing as he breathed.

The wraith shrugged, faux casual to cover the way her paws were still shaking. "No fight today, I got what I came for. Guess I should have expected this. Goodbye, Volkair." And with that, she let herself melt back into the shadows.

If she dropped the last keepsake from their friendship before she left the arena, who would find it? If she cried on the way back to her home, who would see it? If she passed the same cloaked figure from before, still running away from Faerieland, would either of them notice?

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh. The entire reason I wrote this was salt over someone in another fandom ~~not tagging their spoilers properly~~ leaving their spoilers out in the open in a fic summary. I wanted to show them how it was done. (By... writing Neopets fic...)  
>  It's only slight spoilers, with the cloaked figure from today's update (yesterday's? it must have been afternoon NST), but it _counts_ okay?
> 
> If anyone's curious, [Volkair](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/389024701646897153/389025051984527370/Volkair.PNG) and [Kolymar](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/389024701646897153/389025071563538443/Kolymar.PNG)'s customisations, which I tried to describe as well as I could.  
>  ~~Description's not exactly my strong point, so concrit would be appreciated.~~
> 
> Title comes from [Darker Than Blood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPtxGC95LxE) by Linkin Park and Steve Aoki.


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